Stocks, options, commodities, etc., are now extensively monitored (and even traded) by a large percentage of the public. It is commonplace, for example, for the average stock watcher to check the latest price quote for his/her favorite stock(s) “online” so to speak, either through dial-up, always-on, wireless, or some other network connection. Accordingly, a variety of computing platforms are now used to access the Internet to monitor securities trading, including desk tops, lap tops, personal digital appliances (PDAs), cell phones, and the like.
At this time, typical service providers on the World Wide Web (WWW) permit their subscribers to see a form of stock quotes known as “delayed” quotes. The “delay” is usually on the order of 10 to 30 minutes, and varies from exchange to exchange. Thus, for example, on most sites, to see quotes for stocks trading on the NASDAQ trading system, one must usually put up with a 15-minute delay. When such quotes are delayed, they are subject to various rules and regulations from the exchanges and the Securities and Exchange Commission for how they can be displayed. Alternatively, one can subscribe in some instances to the various exchanges, and get the benefit of so-called “real-time” quotes. Real-time quotes are preferable to delayed quotes for obvious reasons, but it is not possible for consumers to secure such quotes in all instances from all exchanges.
Accordingly, in some instances, it is possible for a website visitor to have access to some real-time quotes and some delayed quotes. When such visitor checks his/her portfolio (a collection of stocks or other securities set up by the visitor) they cannot easily tell at a glance which of their stocks is being displayed on a real-time basis, and which are being displayed on a delayed basis. This is undesirable because users want to know right away whether what they are seeing is current or not. Also, it would be useful to be able to quickly identify whether the price for an item being displayed is an opening price, a closing price, or an after-hours trading price.
It is apparent that the present inability to quickly differentiate the types of stock quotes being presented is undesirable, and that a solution is needed to this long-standing problem.